Anthem of the Angels
by xxBlueButterflyHottixx
Summary: Kathryn Louise Grimes; the seventeen year old daughter of Rick and Lori. She's got the best and worst of both parents in her and she's just trying to get through the Zombie Apocolypse with her small family and group of survivors intact. When her brother gets shot and they end up on the Greene farm, will love get thrown in the mix? Go read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't need another friend_

_When most of them_

_I can barely keep up with_

_I'm perfectly able to hold my own hand,_

_But I still can't kiss my own neck- Wye Oak_

Alright, so this story starts at the beginning of Season Two. There'll be flashbacks to the events of Season One and hopefully it'll go onto the brand new Season Three and just to give you all a good image, Crystal Reed is the face claim for Kathryn Grimes.

I sat in the back seat of the RV along with Glenn, Andrea, and Shane. It had been two days since the whole CDC disaster and we were now on the road to Fort-Benning. Dale was driving and T-dog was sitting in the front seat. I was faintly listening to Shane chatter with Andrea about guns and other stuff, when the RV came to a stop.

"Aww, Jeeze" I heard Dale say and I sat up alertly, nudging Glenn til' the young Asian followed suit.

"What's going on?" I asked, and I knew my voice held a little panic. Was it walkers? Had the car my family was traveling in broken down?

"It's alright Katie, it's just a pile-up" T-Dog comforted and I felt my pulse calm a bit. Just a pile up, another area packed with broken down cars. I see Daryl drive up to Dale's window on his motorcycle and they talk about a way through, which ends with the redneck just nodding his head, indicating for us to go forward.

"Umm, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass" Glenn suggested, he had pulled out a map and was now looking for other escapes.

"No, we can't spare the fuel" Dale argued as he continued to follow my parents' car and Daryl's bike. That didn't last long, clouds of smoke imitated from the hood of the old camper at an alarming pace and we were forced to a stop. It made me nervous, the fact that one of our vehicles was down. But then again everything seemed to make me nervous these days.

"Calm down, girl" Shane's big hand squeezes my shoulder as he passes me; I bet the anxiousness I feel is written all over my face. I just nod stiffly and force a small smile as I grab my bat and exit after him.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times" Dale complains as he examines his vehicle and I stand by my mother and lean against one of the probably hundreds of broke down cars.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane inquires and I wonder why he always seems to be so snarky to the oldest member of our group. Obviously there's a problem. The groups looking around, assessing the area.

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope…" Dale seems to catch himself there. No hope is not the thing to say right now. "Okay that was dumb" he is always the one to admit his wrongs.

"Can't find a radiator hose here" Shane puts out.

"Whole buncha' stuff we can find here" comes Daryl's southern twang. The hunter is already doing what he does best, scavenging. That seems to get everyone's gears turning on how to use this set back to our advantage.

"Syphon more fuel from these cars for a start" T-Dog offers.

"Maybe some water" Carol's worried for her daughter, little Soph lips are chapped with dehydration just like the rest of ours.

"Food" My father adds, always wanting to look at the better side of things.

"This is a graveyard" my mother's voice is as wary as I feel and I nod in agreement. Who knows how many walkers are around here. Everyone turns to look at her; their faces contemplating on what she had just said.

"I don't know how I feel about this" Is her apprehensive continuation. There's just a moment more of silence, and then everyone realizes that we have to try and gather what we can, we'll be careful about it, but we have to do it.

"Come on ya'll look around. Gather what you can" Shane instructs and we're all in movement. I give my mom one last lingering glance before I'm off, walking to look through cars.

"Katie, stay close" Even though I'm seventeen, she's still as protective over me as she was when I was five. I keep a hand on the aluminum bat; ready to swing if need be as I inspect the cars. There's bodies in some, not walkers, just corpses rotting in the heat of the Georgian summer. It smelled horrible, but I was…I can't say used to it because I'll never really get used to the smell of death…let's just say it was nothing out of the norm. I popped a couple of trunks and found a couple boxes of pop-tarts, a twelve pack of coke that was missing three cans, an unopened jar of peanut butter, a gallon of bleach, and two unopened monster energy drinks. Not too shabby I thought myself with a smile as I stuffed them into my messenger bag, and headed back to the camper.

"Nice find" Daryl commented and I told him thanks as I walked past him. I put my newly found goods in the storage keep and then headed back out. I was just walking by, about to go back exploring when I saw Shane lift up the back of a white storage truck. Water, at least a hundred, probably more gallons of water were revealed to us; the whole back of the truck. I felt like I could cry…that was if my body still had any excess hydration to spare.

"Oh my god!" I gasp as I walk towards them. We had just gotten so lucky! Maybe we weren't so fucked after all. Maybe things would start looking up.

"We're we short on water?" He teases with a youthful grin as he opens one of the gallons and lets it splash down onto his open mouth and run down his body. Glenn, who's tinkering on a car laughs joyously and does a little happy jump. I stand next to Shane and cup my hands, collecting as much as I could and bringing it to my dry mouth. It's like noting I've ever drank, it's hot from sitting in the sun for so long, but it feels cold as ice as it slips down my sandpaper throat.

"It's like being baptized" Shane gloats happily and I throw a handful of water on Glenn playfully. And then…that moment of pure, fresh water induced euphoria is gone as soon as it came.

My father comes running towards us and his voice is frenzied as he tells us to get under the cars. I feel the butterflies rise in my stomach and my head spins as Shane pushes me down and under the water truck along with him and Glenn. I'm sandwiched in the middle of them, and all I can think about is the others. My mom, my dad, Carl. Are they okay? I feel Shane's arm come around my neck and his sweaty palm covers my mouth as I squeeze my eyes closed. All of my muscles are clenched with fear as I hear the shuffling and moaning of the dead passing. I don't dare open my eyes though; actually it feels like I can't. It feels like they're stuck closed. I literally can't look. I've never wanted to be with my parents as much as I do in this moment. It feels like an eternity as they drag on past us. I'm trying to quiet my shallow breaths but that just makes them seem even louder. I feel Glenn shaking beside me too and I grip his shirt tightly, letting him know he's definitely not the only one scared totally shitless.

When it finally seems like they've passed, I still keep my eyes shut, not yet ready to move yet. The fear fueled adrenalin is still pumping madly through my veins. I feel Glenn start to stir and Shane's hand uncovers my mouth. I'm just about to force myself to look when I hear a child's distressed squeal. My eyes snap open and I feel my body jolt. It's like a glass of ice water had been dumped on me.

"Carl" It I go to get out from under the car, to find my brother and help him but Shane holds me tight and makes me get out along with him and Glenn, not allowing me to run after the source of the squeal on my own. We hurry to meet with the group and I see my mother holding a sobbing Carol by the waist. My eyes dart around fast, counting the members of the group, looking for the other members of my family. I grab Carl by the collar of his shirt and pull him tight into my side; my sibling protection instinct is going wild. I can't find a cropped bob of dirty blond hair or a bright blue eyes and a scruffy chin. My dad and Sophia are gone.

"My baby. There's two walkers after my baby" Carols sobbing harshley and my eyes widen as the grip on Carl tightens.

"You're choking me" He protests a little but I don't care, he's not getting out. I can't force myself to talk, can't form the word that are trying to process in my head.

"Where are they? Where's dad?" The questions finally are forced out. Andrea has come out of the RV, a bloody screwdriver still in her hand. I assume she killed a walker.

"He chased Sophia down there, he went to go get her" my mom answers, by now it's her and Dale holding the short haired woman back from going to chase after her daughter. T-Dog and Daryl have also rejoined us. The dark skinned man is covered in blood and cradling his arm to his chest, and when my mom sees him she lets go of Carol to grab me and Carl and put us behind her back. We're all thinking the same thing. He got bit, he had to be infected

"Oh god" I hear Glenn say as Shane draws his gun, ready to shoot if need be.

"He ain't bit. The dumbass cut himself on a broke car window" Daryl defends the other and Shane asks if he's sure before lowering the fire arm.

"What the hell happened over here?" Daryl asks and we fill him in on what's happened.

"We'll whata' are ya'll waiting for? Let's go get em'" I know it's not that easy.

"No, we can't have everybody running off in those woods, if that horde comes back through we might have to get under the cars again. I'm sure Rick's got her, we just have to wait for them to come back" Shane explains and Daryl looks unimpressed, before he scoffs and walks off. My mom has gone back to Carol, and everyone's trying to settle her down.

After an excruciatingly long fifteen minutes, my father comes back out of the woods…alone. Carol's sobs are hysterical and inconsolable. They take another group out to look for Sophia again, but that just ends with Shane and Glenn returning once again empty handed. I fear the worst, just like everyone else, but keep myself composed. They had to find her.

* * *

While my dad and Daryl kept on the search, Shane had us all occupied. We were clearing off a path on the dead highway, plowing through cars with the little SUV my parents usually drove, so when the others got back we could turn around and head to that by pass Glenn had been talking about. Carol still just watched the forest.

"She's gonna' be okay. Dad's going to find her, they'll probably be back soon…right?" Carl asked, he was watching me plunder through cars; trying to find more food, more anything. He sat on the top of a Ford Exposition and I looked up from the trunk, wanting to look him in the eye.

"Definitely, Carl do you really think dad would just let her go missing? No, he wouldn't, so chill out" I comfort and he nods and slides down, back onto the asphalt. I grab a tube of tooth paste and a pack of ramen noodles and we're off to another car. I look back to see the adults talking, something about walker herd's and packs. What the hell? They travel together now? Great.

"Hey, Katie, look" I see Carl looking into a raggedy looking trucks window and go to join him. Mom told us to stay in her sights…but hey, we were only a little bit farther then she said we could go. And I had a bat. I could smash a walkers head in to protects us.

"What? What'd you find?" He points and I see it. A folded leather pack of weapons, a nice looking hatchet sticking out from the end. We could really use these. The downside however, was that a dead guy with a ginger beard was holding onto it. Me and Carl share a look. I mean he looks pretty dead, but then again so do all walkers. How do I know that when I reach in to grab that bag he won't bite a chunk out of my neck? I tap the windows with my fingertips, trying to see if it reacts.

"I think he's dead" Carl tells me.

"Well thank you for that observation, Captain Obvious" I look at him and roll my eyes.

"No, I mean dead dead. Like he won't try to eat us" Carl clarifies and I take a deep breath and hand him the bat.

"Okay, I'm gonna' open the door and grab the bag. If he moves at all hit him with this" I instruct. Carl nods in understanding and I pull the rusty car handle and climb into the car. I'm still on that adrenalin rush, and my heart beats fast as I tug at the strap of the bag. God, this guy has a helluva grip. I pull a little too hard and the back gives and his spine crunches, making him lean forward. I cry out as I fall backwards onto the asphalt and Carly hits the dead guy in the head with the bat. Our eyes meet for another minute and I can't help the inappropriate laughter that bubbles out of my throat, at that he begins to laugh too. We'd just scared the piss out of our selves.

"Come on, let's go show the others" I suggest and he helps me up off the ground.

"Shane" Carl calls out as we get close to where the rest of the group is.

"Carl? Katie? What happened?" Way to give our mother a heart attack. We walk up to where Shane is working on a mint green small SUV. It's a pretty nice little car.

"We're fine mom!" I reassure her, but she's already run out to meet us. She looks relieved, but also a bit irritated.

"Look what we found!" Carl's way too excited about this. "Check it out, it's an arsenal" He unrolls the leather folder that's full of 'Gerber' weapons with a beaming smile on his face. Shane doesn't even look up from under the hood of the car.

"That's cool, man. Go give it to Dale" He dismisses and my eyebrows pull together. It's not like him to shoo my little brother away.

"Look at this one! Whoa, it's a hatchet!" I can just see him chopping off his fingers as he lifts the tool up to inspect it. I let him though; I haven't seen him this excited in a while. Plus it's keeping his mind off his missing friend.

"Careful, don't play with that stuff" My mom's kind of a kill-joy.

"It's really sharp" He goes on anyway and I know she's about to come take it from him.

"What did I just say?" Yep. He's definitely getting it taken away.

"Can I keep one" Oh, Naive little brother, I think to myself with a snort.

"Are you crazy?" My mother questions. He looks so reluctant to give it to her, but we both know my mom's not one to let her kids run around with weapons.

"Ughh, no way. Shane, tell her to let me keep one" Shane always did convince our parents to do things in our advantage. He was like that cool uncle, the one who would sneak you a beer at barbeques.

"Hey man, go give them all to Dale. Now. Go!" I'm baffled. He's never just out right belittled either one of us like that. Carl looks hurt as he walks over to where the silver bearded man is and I just watch him go then look back at Shane, shaking my head. What the hell. What had crawled up is ass and died?

"Kate, honey, go watch your brother for me, kay?" My mom gently instructs and I just fold my arms over my chest and walk after Carl. I wasn't an idiot and I wasn't twelve years old; I knew something was going on with my mom and Shane. Or at least that something _had _been going on. At first, I had been so upset about it. I felt betrayed, I felt so angry for my father. He was dead and they were going behind his back. But then the dead part had hit me. He was gone, and I couldn't bring myself to confront either of them about it. When my dad had come back with the scavenging group from Atlanta…all of that anger inside of me turned to concern. What would he do if he found out? I tried not to think about it too much, but the fear of my little family being ripped apart still plagued me.

"Yo, homeboy" I called for my little brother, he had handed off our goods to Dale and his face was sour.

"Huh?" I could tell he was trying not to pout, but his voice still had that edge of child-like disappointment.

"Relax, I'll talk mom into letting you have one of the littler knives" I try and throw him a bone. It's been a rough day.

"Really?" He asks and I nod with a shrug. I mean it shouldn't be too hard.

"I don't think your mom will be up for that" Andrea warns as she walks by, carrying a bow of canned foods.

"Yeah you're probably right…but that doesn't mean that one won't go missing to the world. I mean, things get lost all the time" I wink at Carl and his mood seems to be a lifting a bit. Andrea looks at us with a semi dazed smile, like she's in a memory. I bet it's about Amy. I really don't know what I'd do if I lost Carl.

'_This is the civil emergency broadcast. We would like to give the following message' _

"Come on, we should go see what that is" Andrea goes forward and Carl and I follow. Everyone has gathered back where my mom and Shane are. The mint car that Shane had fixed's radio was going off.

"Is that a local signal?" Glenn buzzes as he approaches.

"That's gotta' be within fifty miles of here" Dale remarks. Fifty miles…could there be a safe haven? A place with military, with other living people.

'_Remain calm. Help is on the way.' _That line irritates me like no other and my fingers ball up into fists. Help is on the way. Fuck them. Liars.

Shane turns it off. "Ass hole" Guess I'm not the only one who was annoyed. "'Kay let's get back to work."

"Come on guy's. Back to work in the mines" Andrea sounds salty. I know were all pretty tired, this whole day has been exhausting.

"High ho" I finish sarcastically , there's nothing we can do but work and wait. For my dad, for Sophia. It would be dark in a couple of hours, and I had a really bad feeling.

* * *

The sky is starting to turn a dark blue and the orange clouds of dusk look strikingly beautiful against it. Daryl and dad still haven't returned, and the group is on edge, even with Shane's constant pestering of getting to work. Carol stands at the place where Sophia had been chased, looking down at the tree line, her face creased.

"Where's my gun? You have no right to take it" Andrea's pissed at Dale. I'd be pissed at the old man too. He babies her, treats her like a child.

"You don't need that just now, do you?" I force myself to keep to my own business. It's _her_ gun. He shouldn't make her decisions for her.

"My father gave it to me, it's mine" My mom knows me far too well and she passes by me.

"None of your business, Kate" it's a whisper as she puts a box next to mine and I just huff. I know it's not, but a part of me just wants to stand up for Andrea so bad.

"I can hold on to it for you" I can't listen anymore cause I'm about to snap at him for her, so I step into the RV and go to check on T-dog. It really was not my place to get into it, so I removed myself from the equation.

"How are you doing, T?" I sit down next to him, unscrew the top and hand him a full water bottle. He looks pale (I never thought I'd say that in my life) and sweat drips down his forehead.

"I'm alright" He grit's out through his teeth as he takes a small sip and hands it back. I wet a wash rag and put it to his forehead.

"If you say so. If you need anything, you know all you've gotta' do is ask" I offer my services.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind"

I'm about to start up a conversation when Glenn peeks his head in.

"Katie, your dad's back" I hop up quick and tell the injured man I'll be back. I see my dad and Daryl walking up the hill to the highway. Just them, no Sophia. I bite my lips together. This is not going to be pretty. My mom grabs Carl's hand.

Carol is distraught. She shakes her hands, trying to calm herself down. "You didn't find her"

"Her trail went cold, we'll pick it up again at first light" My dad climbs over the rail. First light…she couldn't survive that long. Walkers were more active at night, and she was just a twelve year old. She wouldn't have any idea what to do.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own. She can't spend the night alone in the woods" The bald woman is pleading. I place a hand on her upper arm, trying to console her with touch, cause I really didn't know what to say.

"Hunting in the darks' no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people'd get lost" Daryl justifies my dad's earlier comment about going out at first light.

"But she's twelve she can't be out there on her own! You didn't find anything?" Hysteria. Carols about go hysterical; and I can't say I blame her.

"I know this is hard but I'm asking you not to panic" That was a lot of my dad to ask at this moment. "We know she was out there"

"We tracked her for a while" Daryl clings his cross bow over his shoulder and tells the mother and I just rub her arm more. I look back at my brother, he looks like he's close to tears.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody, I've asked him to oversee this" Dad sounds so cop like, I know he's turned on professional auto mode. Mom has joined me in trying to keep Carol from flipping out. Her breathing is hard as she scans both the men who had just come out from the woods.

"Is that, is that blood?" She points to the plaid clad Daryl. I'm really scared she's going to have a panic attack or pass out or something with the shallows, fast breaths she's taking.

"We took down a walker" I personally think dad should have kept that to himself, cause that starts her on another fit, and she moves away from my hand.

"Walker, walker, my god" seems like she's going to have a panic attack instead of passing out. Mom has her whole arm around Carol, seemingly keeping the woman standing straight.

"There was no indication that it when anywhere near Sophia" My dad bends down to her level, trying to look her in the eye but she shaking her head back and forth.

"How can you know that?" Andrea throws coal in the flames and I shoot her a look. Not appropriate right now.

Dad and Daryl glance at each other in slight disgust.

"We cut the sumbitch open, made sure" I can only imagine how rank that had been. Carol can't stand anymore, she collapses' into a heap in the railing, and mom sits right next to her.

"How could you? Just leave her out there to begin with" Carols accusing my dad, her voice venomous. This is not his fault; she could have run after her own daughter. He went after a child that wasn't even his without a second thought. "How could you just leave her?" Carl leans into me and I just nudge him. It's going to be okay. My dad looks so guilty, his crystal eyes are so apologetic. Shane seems to see it to goes to stand behind him, moral support.

"The walkers were on us. I-I had to draw them off. It was her best chance"

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol" Shane comes to the rescue. No, my dad didn't. He was just trying to help.

"How was she supposed' to find her way back on her own? She's just a child" hot tears are running down the gray haired mothers face, and my dad crouched and holds his forehead in his hand.

"She's just a child" Carol repeats going to get in his face and I can't help it, I pull her back. Gently, but still enough to get her out of my dad's personal space.

"It was my only option, the only choice I could make" He tries to make her understand, his voice breaks in the process.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that" Shane aims that at Carol and she just starts crying again.

"My little girl got left in the woods" she doesn't say anything after that, she just sags into my mom and sobs. I step away from her and let Andrea take my place.

My dad looks around at the group, and I can see he has no words. He thinks this is his fault, this could destroy him. If we didn't find her this would destroy him. He turns his back and begins to walk away through the maze of ghost cars.

I go to chase after him, I need to talk to him, make sure his heads not too far gone.

"Katie!" My mom and Shane both try to halt me but I just walk on. I wait til' I've followed him a little ways away from the group before I try and talk to him. They don't all need to hear out business.

"Dad, daddy, listen to me. This wasn't your fault, you can't blame yourself for this" I want it to register in his head. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"You don't get it. You couldn't" He's right, I probably had no idea how he was feeling. But I had to try and help.

"Your right, but I do know you were the first one after her, without even blinking. Who else did that?" just rotates back to look at me, and I can see he's trying not to lose composure.

"I know, Katie…I just…I need to be alone for a little while. Kay? I just need to think" Thinking will just make this worse my head tells me. He'll just sit here and stew, but he needs his time to sort things out so I nod and go to hug him tightly. He smells like rotting corpse and sweat but I know he'd hug me no matter what if I was in this situation, and I want to be here for him. He squeezes back for a moment before I pull away.

"This is not your fault" is the last thing I say to him before I go to rejoin the others. So much for thinking things might actually get better.

**Walking Dead's back wooohoooo. So I love the idea of Rick and Lori having an older daughter, don't you? They're old enough to have one. (Andrew's 39 and Sarah's 35) plus they always talk about getting married very early. What's a bigger inactive to get married at an early are then a baby? Well I hope you all liked this, please leave your thoughts and opinions in reviews**_._


	2. Breath of Life

_And the fever began to spread  
From my heart down to my legs  
But the room is so quiet,  
And although I wasn't losing my mind  
It was a chorus so sublime  
But the room was too quiet_

The next morning, just like my dad had promised, we were up at first light; ready to go looking for Sophia. Last night had been nerve racking, camping out on the highway where a herd had passed through. I tossed and turned all night, listening to the soft breathing of my mom and Carl for the majority of the hours I lay awake. My dad had been on look-out duty. He had been put together at diner, like the good sheriff's deputy he was but I could see the worried looks my mom and Shane shot at him. Before we'd gone to sleep, she'd reassured him that this was not his fault; that he couldn't have done anything more. Her words were spoken to deaf ears though, and I'm sure he spent the whole night up there beating himself up.

Dad unrolled the 'Gerber' leather folder full of weapons that me and Carl had found yesterday on the hood of the pastel yellow Subaru. The group was gathered around him, ready to be instructed on the days search.

"Everybody takes a weapon" Dad coaches and I have my eye on the hatchet.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea is still pissy about her gun being taken from her.

"Haven't we been over that? Daryl, Rick and I are carryin'. Can't have people poppin' off every time a tree rustles" Shane dismisses and I go forward and claim the hatched. My mom doesn't look too thrilled, but I shrug at her. I had to have something sharp to protect myself, and hey, dad had told everyone to take a weapon. She just sucks up her un-approval and grabs a weapon for her own.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about" She argues her case with her hands on her hips.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment and a herd happens to be passing by, see, then its game over for all of us. So you need to get over it" And that's that. Shane has silenced her; he seems to be doing a lot of that these days.

"The idea is to take the creek up a couple miles, then turn around and come back down the other side. Best chances are she'll be by the creek" Daryl's in charge of this whole plan, and I trust him. He's always out in those woods. Glenn picks up a sharp blade with a curved edge and smiles in fascination.

"Look at this" He whispers to me and I nod and hold up my hatchet to show it off in return. It's kind of fun that we get to use these, in a totally we shouldn't be having any fun kind of way.

"It's our only land mark. Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you, but always stay within sight of each other" My dad gives us his best advice before turning around to talk to Dale.

"Everybody assemble your packs" Shane tells us. I've already got my brown leather cross body together: full water bottle, two granola bar, flash light and Band-Aids. Just enough to get me through our day of searching.

"Dale, keep on those repairs. We've gotta' get this RV ready to move" Dad tells Dale. Once we found Soph, we would need to get the hell out of here.

"We won't stay here a minute longer then we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back" Dale wishes us luck. I assume it's going to be him, T-Dog and Carl staying back at the temporary camp.

"Keep an eye on Carl, will ya' while we're gone?" My dad asks Dale. I thought that was already what everyone was planning? Dad pats Carl's shoulder and my brother looks gob smacked and reluctant.

"No, I'm going with you" He protests shaking his head. "You need people right? To cover as much ground as possible" my kid brothers giving a hell of a fight. My dad makes a noise of indecision and looks to my mom for help.

"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy" Mom does usually play bad cop while dad gets to be officer friendly. Carl looks at me, his eyes pleading for help. I gnaw my lip and take a deep breath. He owes me one.

"Wouldn't it be easier if he just came? I mean we could keep an eye on him better" I put out to my parents and Carl grins at me.

"She's got a point; he does have all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands" Dale agrees with me and even though dad does take another minute to think it over, I know he's been won.

"Okay, Okay. But always in our sights" My little brother's triumphant as my dad passes him and puts a hand on his neck for a moment.

"You too, Kate. Always where we can see" of course he has to give me ground rules too. I just roll my eyes and nod with a smart alic-y smile.

"Yes sir" I give him the scouts salute before I go to find Glenn. I've already called dibs on him being my back-woods-search-party-partner.

"Having a teenaged daughter isn't nearly as fun as I thought'd be" I hear my dad sarcastically tell my mother and I turn around and stick my tongue out at him as I keep on walking.

"Got your pack ready, Glenjermin?" I ask as I approach him and his nose scrunches at the nickname.

"Yeah, did you bring a flash light?"

"Yep" I pop the 'p' and he shoves one in his black backpack.

"Do you think we'll find her?" He whispers to me, so that no one around could hear. I search my head for an appropriate answer. I was really weary about finding her. She was scared out of her mind, and hungry and dehydrated…maybe she climbed a tree? Or found a hiding spot. I could only hope.

"I hope we do" that seems about right.

"Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy, this is about us. And if I decided I had nothing left to live for, who the hell we're you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?" I look over to see Andrea close to tears, she's tearing Dale a new one. And everyone's attention has seemed to focus on the two.

"I-I saved your life" Dale defends what he did but she quickly snaps back at him.

"No, Dale. I saved yours. You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life altering catharsis?" Oh she is pissed. Dale looks like he doesn't know what to say, and if I was him, I'd tread very, very lightly.

"Maybe just a little gratitude?" Wrong. He should not have said that.

"Gratitude?" she says the word as if he's stabbed her. "I wanted to die my way. Not torn apart my drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that away from me, Dale" I just look down as visions of Amy getting chunks of flesh ripped from her neck and arm plague me. Would I die like that? Would Carl? Mom? Dad? Shane? Glenn? Had Sophia died like that?

"But-"Dale's shaking his fishing hat covered head. He doesn't understand her. Even after she's explained to him.

"But you know better" I can almost hear the scoff as she says that. "All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away, Dale, and you expect gratitude?" tears roll down her face as she looks at him, the disgust shining in her turquoise eyes. I can feel the knot in my throat and the tears well behind my own eyes. I wonder if Amy would be upset or thankful to us for making her sister go through this.

"I don't know what to say" Dale for once is at a loss for words.

"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife and I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say" With that, she walks around him, leaving Dale just standing there. Lost. My dad comes by me and rubs my arm.

"Come on, Kate. Let's go" is his soft request and I nod and follow him. There's no time for crying. There's a little girl out in those woods that we need to find.

* * *

It is hot; the kind of humid hot that leaves your clothes damp and makes your hair frizz out and walking through the forest in this heat feels like death. I feel so gross, covered in sweat and dirt. My hairs tied up in a high top knot, but pieces of it had fallen out and were sticking to the back of my neck. My father had warned against my usual shorts so I opted for a pair of distressed skinny jeans, a tight coral colored cropped tank top and an off white thin fabric'd , short sleeved V-neck over that. I think I wouldn't even care if the vegetation hit my legs at this point, I'd take shorts. I felt like I was melting. But I pushed on; there was no time to whine about it.

I was walking behind Glenn and in front of my mom, Carl and Shane picked up the rear.

"It's so gross out here" Glenn complained quietly to me and I chuckled and nodded in agreement. This is why he was my best friend.

"I know, just keep going" I shove his back a little and he just groans, but continues.

"I think Shane's mad at me. Did I do something wrong?" I hear Carl say to my mom and I look back at them. Had he been a dick to him again? What was up with him? He'd been so cold lately.

"No, honey I promise you. He just- He's just worried about Sophia that's all" My mom tries to reason and I look ahead, biting the inside of my cheek. I'd talk to him. Next stop. Figure out what was wrong with him.

"Keep up" Glenn jestingly urges and I just flip him the bird and tell him to shut up as I jog back up to him.

We tread on for a while, before the group ahead slows down. I crane my head to see what the hold up is.

"What is it?" My brother asks and mom's hand goes to his head, keeping him close.

"I don't know. Can't see" it turned up being a tent in a small clearing between the trees. Everyone crouches a bit and Dad, Shane and Daryl take protective stances.

"She could be in there" Shane asses and I'm mad at him so my eyes narrow at the sound of his voice.

"There could be a whole buncha' things in there" Daryl warns easily, as if he'd just said he saw a squirrel or something. He goes forward and dad holds his hand up, telling us to wait here before both he and Shane follow. I switch the hatchet into my other hand and take the opportunity to take a deep swig of my water bottle.

"It's hotter than the devils ball-" I start and my mom gives a glare to stop me. Almost eighteen and I can't say ball sack, in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, around my mom. Where's the justice in that?

"Sorry" I'm really not, but I say it anyways.

"Whata' thinks in there?" Carl looks around us, but still stays with in mom's arm length.

"A whole buncha' things" Glenn mocks Daryl and I snort and try to keep my laughter at bay. Jack ass.

"Carol" My dad calls over to her in a hushed fashion and urges her forward, but we all go anyways. Even though he just asked for her. Carols hand is over her mouth, and I can see in her eyes that she's getting her hopes up. She crouches close to my dad/

"Call out softly, if she's in there your's is the first voice that she'd hear" Dad instructs her and I feel my stomach flip. Maybe she's there, okay. We can go back to camp, and I can change back into shorts.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" She hollers lightly for her girl. Or maybe, there's twenty walkers jam packed into that tent and we're about to have to go all Rambo. I get my hatchet ready. It seems like we always get the shit end of the stick. "Sophia? We're all here baby. It's mommy."

Daryl's getting ready to pull the tarp away, to open the tent. My dad goes to back him, and Shane follows as even more reinforcement. Carol watches with hopeful eyes as they go into the tent. I know she's not there before then even tell us. She would have come to her mom. My dad and Shane are coughing and gagging as Daryl goes into the tent, and the smell of rotting flesh hits me from where I am. I bring my hand to cover my nose. It's worse than usual; that tent had been like a walker easy bake oven.

"Daryl? Daryl?" Andrea chirps for the hunter and he exits the tent flap, a small, new shot gun in his hand.

"What's in there" the blond wonders. Obviously something dead I almost tell her.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out" He's not impressed as he reloads his cross bow and slings it back around his shoulder. "Aint that what he called it?"

I'm about to tell them I was going to puke if we stayed any longer, but before I could open my mouth the sound of bells rung around us. Everyone looked around in a dazed confusion before my father pointed north and we ran to the sound. We ended up slowing down seconds later.

"What direction?" Shane buzzed, his head turning fast and he tried to locate the the place where the sound was coming from.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure" Dad point's forward.

"If we hear them, maybe Sophia does too" Carol is looking for any trace of her daughter.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others" Glenn says from beside me.

"Or signaling that they found her" Andrea adds her input.

"Whatever they're doing, they're ringing a dinner bell" I say. I know it's a little negative, but come on. Walkers could be coming from all directions.

"Sophia could be ringing em' herself. Come on" my dad shakes off what I say, determined to find Sophia. I hop over logs and roots and undergrowth, throwing looks over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure mom and Carl were keeping up.

The trees clear and we come to a graveyard, it boarders a white farm house styled church. I didn't like graveyards before all of this, and I sure as hell didn't like them now. I examine the church and shake my head.

"Dad, that can't be it. Look, there's no steeple. No bells" I point it out to him, but he stills starts through the graves anyway.

"Rick!" Shane hollers for him, but he's already a third of the way to the church. I groan internally, more running. I can't do anything though, but go after them. I couldn't just stay and get left behind. I thank god in my head that I had inherited my mom's long legs. When we get to the entrance steps, my dad climbs them taking two at a time til' he's at the top. Here we go again, opening doors that had unknowns behind them. The three oldest men assemble and push them open with caution. My mom has once again gone into that super protective mode and has put me behind her along with Carl. I tighten my grip on my weapon.

There are three walkers in the church. One looks like a bride and it's like something out of a bad horror flick. My mom steps ahead and hands the long, butcher like knife to my dad as he, Shane and Daryl divide and take the walkers out. Dad hacks the over-all walkers face in, Shane gives the chubo walker a c stab to the head and Daryl swipes the bride walked hard and deep across the face. They make mush of the brains and I just grimace. It's kind of scary watching them do it, I'm not going to lie. Mom had covered Carl's ears and made him look at her for the whole time.

"That was gnarly" I announce and Glenn nods the same look as I had on his face.

"Sophia!" Daryl screams, as he looks in all of the nooks and crannies of the church. "Yo, JC, you taking requests?" he says that sourly to the crucifix. There is no Jesus I think to myself. If there was, how could he watch this happen? Allow this to happen?

"Rick you didn't listen to you daughter. I'm tellin' you it's the wrong church, it's got no steeple, Rick" Shane tries to get it through my dad's head. Just as my dad's letting that sink in, the bell's ring again, it's loud as hell and sounds like it's coming from just outside. Daryl pushes past all of us and rushes out the doors. When I see what it is I almost snort, almost. A speaker. A timed speaker. I go to the power box and rip out a few of the wires, the bell sound cuts automatically.

"Timer. It's on a timer" Daryl states what everyone already knows.

"I'm gonna' go back in for a bit" Carol says to no one in particular before she heads back into the church. That sinking feeling of disappointment feels everyone's guts and my dad strokes Carl's head and leads him away. Andrea comes near me and sinks down to the ground, I follow and slip down the building to land with an 'oof ' on my ass next to her. We don't say anything, we just sit there and catch or breaths.

"Are you really leaving?" I hear my mom on the other side of the building and I sit up a bit. Who's leaving?

"Don't you think that's best for all of us?" It's Shane's voice and my eyes widen. Leaving? What the fuck?

"What made you decide?" I can't believe what I'm hearing. He can't leave us! He'll die.

"Katie-" Andrea whispers and I just shake my head and place a finger on my lips, indicating for her to remain silent. I needed to hear the rest of this.

"I just need'a back away. I'm just trying to be the good guy here, Lori" Good guy? By just leaving us? So that is why he had been so cold, he was trying to dis-attach himself. Trying to make it a clean break. "Even if you don't see it. None of this was intended. I hope you know that. Don't matter, as long as I said it" This is about the affair. I'm frozen in my spot.

"So you're just gonna' disappear? You're not even gonna' tell, Rick? She's outraged and desperate. I think about my dad and what he'd do if Shane just left out of the blue. What would Carl do? What would I do?

"Don't try'n stop me. That's on you" No, it was on the both of them. They both did this.

"Just tell him what you want, or nothin' at all. You're his wife" He cannot do this. Where would he go?

"And Carl? And Katie? We dragged them into this" she's using the kid card.

"I love them-" He begins but she cuts his sentence off.

"He thinks you're angry with him. And Katie knows some things up"

"I'm trying to put some distance. I'm trying to make this easier. This aint' easy on none of us, Lori. Least of all me. I'm the one who loses you" my teeth are clenched together so tight it hurts. That's the end of their little "secret" conversation.

"Katie, are you-" Andrea is going to try and coddle me but I won't let her. I shoot up and walk around the corner in a huff. Shane looks at me and gapes for a moment before his lips set into a deep frown. I will not cry, I will not cry. That's my inner mantra.

"You eaves dropping there, Kate?"

"You leaving there, Shane?" I spit at him and he just shakes his head and looks at the ground. "You know, I get it now. Why you've been being a douche. You're trying to make us hate you. So that we won't miss you. Well guess what, Shane? I'll miss you. My dad; he'll miss you. Carl will miss you. This group needs you" I say it hushed, but still hard enough that he'll get it.

"Katie, you can't understand-"

"Stop treating me like I'm a child. I'm not a kid" I'm so mad at him. How can he do this? He's quiet for a long moment and I don't think he's going to say anything at all.

"I'm sorry" he sounds sincere, vulnerable, and I just unfold my arms and go to him and rub his bicep, just like he's done to me so many times before. He's family. Him and mom fucked up, but he's still family.

"Don't be. You haven't left yet. Please, please just think about this. We need you" I leave after that; there's just nothing more I can say. We let Carol do her praying and everyone takes the time to eat and rehydrate before we re-group in the middle of the graveyard under the shade of a large oak and make our next plans. Everyone's spent, but no one wants to say it. No one want's to tell Carol it'll be another night without her daughter. Shane and my dad talk in private, away from the group before Shane comes over to us.

"Okay, ya'll gonna' follow the creek back. Daryl you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna' hang back n' search this area for another hour or so. Just be thorough" Shane gives us the plan.

"Splittin' us up. You sure?" Daryl looks unconvinced that this is a good idea.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you" Shane's sure.

"I wanna' stay too, I'm her friend" Carl steps up and my eyebrow rises. Friend my ass, he had a huge crush on Sophia. Dad and Shane know it too, and they try and smother smiles.

"Well if Carl gets to go I want to come too" It's childish, but I don't care. I want to keep an eye on Shane. Make sure he doesn't just sneak off. Dad shrugs, signaling he's okay with it and mom takes a deep breath and nods.

"Just make sure you're safe, kay" Mom agrees to it and kisses my forehead then hugs Carl and asks him when he'd started growing up. Dad comes over and wraps his arm around her and pecks her.

"We'll be along soon enough" he says what he knows she needs to hear.

"See ya', Glenjermin" I wave at him and he waves back and tells me to watch myself.

My dad gives my mother his gun, and Andrea lets out a harsh breath then is silently fumes. I can see why she'd be annoyed, but my mom really did know her way around a gun. She was a southern woman after all.

"Hey, Katie?" Mom hollers for me, stopping to turn and look me in the face.

"Yeah?" She better not re-nig on me.

"Take care of 'em" I laugh and put my thumbs up. She was telling the only girl to take care of the three guys. "I've got this." She's the last of the group as the saunter on in the opposite direction back to the highway.

**Two chapters in two days say what? Lol. Hope you liked this one. Next chapter Carl get's short and the Greene's get introduced!**


	3. Night

Sorry for that little hiatus! I had so much on my plate. But I'm back! Hope you all enjoy this.

In the end of the night you're in my arms  
I'm on my bed  
My bed of stones  
But in the end of the night we'll rest our bones  
So don't you worry  
Just rest your head  
Coz in the end of the night we'll be together again

We(me, Dad, Shane and Carl) trekked through the forest, making idle conversation here and there but for the most part just looking for the lost girl. It's…comfortable. The first comfortable moment I've actually spent with my dad and Shane at the same time since he'd come miraculously back to life. It was still hot as shit and we we're still in a zombie apocalypse…but it felt a little bit like before; like maybe, just maybe we could go back to being a family like the old days. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice we were stopping until I ran face first into my dad's back.

"Dad, what is it?" of course I panicked, I thought maybe there was another herd of walkers ahead of us or something. He just lifted his finger to his lips and looked forward. I kept quiet and did as he has instructed and looked around him. What my eyes found made my body ease a little back into normal posture and I let the air out of my lungs. There was a big buck in front of us, just standing there, chewing on vegetation, looking all majestic and stuff. It's a nice sight, nice to see something so alive. Carl reaches out his hand and starts slowly forward and it's like the two, the deer and my brother, are connected. The animal doesn't look spooked it just stands there, it's beady black eyes accepting the boy and I feel a surprised smile stretch across my face as me, dad and Shane share a look of disbelief. Is this really happening? Carl's just about to press his hand to the animals pelt when a sharp sound slices through the silence.

And just like that, I can't breathe. The air seems to be knocked out of me with the sound of the gun shot and my hatchet slips through numb fingers. It all happens so slow, Carl falls to the ground along with the buck and that ice water that I had felt back on the highway when I had thought it was Carl's screams instead of Sophia's is nothing compared to this. I can't think, I can only run for him, all of the things I had ever learned in health class whizzed around my head and made me dizzy, but I still stripped of my top V-neck shirt as I collapsed next to him on the leafy earth and was pressing against his bleeding stomach in a second. There was so much blood, it stained my hands and felt sticky and warm.

"Dad! Daddy! Shane!" I scream and he and Shane are both right next to me in less than a moment, my dad moves my hands away, wanting to see the wound, I lift the shirt that I was now using like a rag up to let him see, but just for half of a moment. Pressure, he needed me to keep pushing down. To keep the blood in him, to keep the life in him.

"I have to keep the pressure, I-I-I have to keep pushing down" I truly don't know how I got anything out. Shane was yelling at the man who'd shot my brother, he was a robust man with a scruffy beard and a shot gun slung across his back; the shot gun that had blown through my brother. My baby brother, the one my mother had told me to watch after. I feel my arms about to give out, I feel as if I might pass out. But I know they don't need that from me right now. I needed to stay alert, to help my brother. To save him. The fat man, Otis, told us of his farm, the farm with a doctor named Hershel and my dad pushed my hands away and takes Carl into his arms bridal style and is off running in the direction Otis had pointed to. I go after him, my footsteps don't feel real. The ground seemed to be crumbling under my feet with each time my boots pounded against the earth. We brook out from the forest and into fields of tall grass and weeds. The sun shone down on us hard and I know my breathing was labored but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything but the agonizing fear that my brother might be gone. I looked behind me to see that Otis was lagging, his weight causing him to slow for air.

"Come on you shithead! Come on!" Shane urged him, pulling him by his suspenders forward. My dad was having none of that, we didn't have this time.

"How far? How far?" Dad yelled at him and the man hunched over on his knees.

"About a half mile that way! Tell Hershel, talk to Hershel; he'll help your boy." Otis answered between labored breaths and I shot out like a bullet again, running fast behind my dad. How could he run faster; with his hurt child in his arms then Otis?

"Run ahead, go, tell them we're coming" My dad instructs and I just look at Carl for a moment, wanting to stay close to them. "Kate, go!"

That shocks me into running ahead. All the cheer and track I've ever took, I sure am glad for in that moment. I almost trip a few times due to the fact that I'm not watching the ground, but steady myself out. I'd run for my life a couple of times now in this apocalypse, but running for my brother's life…that was something else. There were stones in in my stomach that I wouldn't let slow me down and my throat was on fire like it'd never been before and I could barely breathe in the thick Georgian air. When the large barn style farm house came into view I pushed myself to go faster, ignoring my leg muscles that burned in protest. The last few yards felt like I was running through knee deep sand .I pushed the gate open, far enough so that when my dad came it would be open so he wouldn't have to go through any obstacles.

"Help!" I had never heard my voice this gravely as it was not. Ever. It hurt my exhausted lungs to scream but I continued on anyway. I looked behind me to see my father coming up on the hill I had just been on. He wasn't too far behind.

"Help me, help us please" I cry as I see a girl with shortly cut brown hair cry for her father and run inside. These people better fucking help us, their man had done this! A group comes out, led by a white haired old man. There's a two blond girls; one who looks to be around my age and one who looks to be in her forties. There's a tall dark haired boy; he looks a little older than me and a boy who looks the same age with sandy hair next to him, they both have baseball bats and are holding them defensively.

"Please, your man, he shot my little brother" I drop my weapon and hold up my bloodied hands. I'm defenseless, I'm desperate.

"Are you bit?" The old man asks and I shake my head fast. My dad's coming behind me fast, he's almost at the house.

"Otis?" The older blond asks and they all come towards us and my dad approaches and I nod.

"He said find Hershel, is that you? Please help me. My boy" my dad's voice breaks and Hershel looks sure now. He tells us to get inside sternly, and we all follow.

"Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie; pain killers. Coagulants, get everything we have. Clean towels, sheet's, alcohol" He barks orders as he rolls up his sleeves and the older blond and the girl with short brown hair do as they're told.

"In here" Hershel instructs us into a bed room and my dad lay's carl on the clean bed. He's so pale, he looks so de- I don't allow my mind to finish. My little brother is not dead.

"Is he alive?" my dad asks numbly and I feel tears slip of my eyes.

"Pillow cases, quick" Hershel's clear voice calls out and echoes in my head. The doctor is tightening his belt around Carl's middle.

"I-Is he alive?" my dad asks again as he hands the elderly man a pillow case. He folds it up and takes my blood drenched v-neck away from Carl's gunshot.

"Hold it, make a pad, put pressure on the wound" Hershel tells dad what I had done before. Maggie and Patricia are in the room now too, medical kits in hand, rushing around like a flock of bird to get everything prepared. Why doesn't anything feel real? I feel like it's all a dream. I can't focus on anyone or anything.

"I hear a heartbeat" I let out a little sob and nod. He's alive, my brothers alive. Patricia steps forward to release my dad from his job, to take control, "I've got it, step back" she tells him but he's frozen in his spot much as I am.

"Maggie; IV" Hershel continues to call of orders and Maggie tells us that they need some space.

"R-R-Rick. I-I'm Rick" He can barely get it out.

"Rick? We're gonna' do everything we can, okay? But you need to give us some room" I begin to back up at the doctors words but my dad stays in place for a moment longer. "Now." Hershel adds firmly and my dad gives them the space they need and looks out of the window. Shane and Otis have finally made it to the house and go into the hall way and sit down on one of the armchairs. I bite my lips together and grasps at the roots of my hair as I try not to break down. There's a heartbeat. He's alive. My brothers alive and he's not going to die. I repeat it in my head like lyrics to a song. I cant sit here and fall apart, I need to get up, do something. Get out. I stand up and walk down the stairs, wanting to go outside and breathe. Everything still ached from the running; the pains we're starting to appear as the adrenalin rush began to fade a little bit. When I get to the front door; I see Shane at the foot of the front porch steps.

I open the door and look out at him, my shoulders are shaking with the amount of resistance I'm putting into keeping my eyes dry. He just sighs, all the air leaving his body and I walk down the rickety barn stairs and allow him to rub my shoulder, then grab me tightly in his arms.

"I'm so sorry" I hear Otis tell me over and over again but I don't know if I forgive him.

"His hearts beating" I whisper to Shane and he nods and pets my hair.

"He's gonna' be okay Kate. He'll be fine" His drawl is not comforting like he wants it to be as he pulls me arms length away from him and wipes at my head. I don't think anything could comfort me in this moment….except my mom. Her big brown eyes pop into my head and I squeeze my eyes shut; trying to keep the tears in. she needs to know. She told me to take care of my brother and I had fucked up. Shane gives my shoulder one more squeeze before he releases me and I look to where his eyes are directed at. My fathers on the porch, more blood stained then me, his crystal eyes unfocused.

"He's alive? He's still alive?" Otis questions him desperately as Shane goes to him. My dad wipes a bloodied hand across his forehead, leaving a crimson smear on his light skin. I realize that I must've been smeared too, from all that hair grabbing and that's why he'd wiped at my face. I watch shakily as Shane reaches into his bag and grabs a rag and tries to clean my dad up, but there's just so much blood on him. Carl's blood. My dad looks as if he might fall apart as him and Shane speak in whispers before he goes back into the house, Shane telling me to come on, before following. I realize right then that Shane's gonna' be our rock through this. He literally _can't_ leave us now.

Seeing my little brother again, laying on the bed; gray and sweaty makes me want mom even more. She'd know what to do, wouldn't she? She always figure it out. Hershel's still got the pillow case pressed to his little stomach.

"You know his blood type?" The doctor wonders.

"A positive; same as mine and Kate's" Dad answers and the doctor looks at me and gives me a soft smile. I feel younger then I really am, I bet I look so too; standing behind my dad and Shane, my arms folded over my chest and my body shaking without my permission.

"That's fortunate. Don't wander far I'm gonna' need you" Hershel behest's us before he looks at Otis. It seems all of us are in the room now.

"What happened?" He seems just a bit irked as he looks to a still shell shocked Otis.

"I was tracking a buck, the bullet went through it, went clean through" Otis explains himself and I let out a shaky breath and turn to away from him. I can't even look at him. His bullet had gone "clean through" my baby brother.

"The buck slowed the bullet down, which saved his life. But it did not go through clean; it broke up into to pieces. I'm countin' six" Hershel explains and Otis goes to that old blond woman, Patricia, and explains himself. He looks for comfort in her words. She must be his wife.

"Lori doesn't know" My dad look of recognition makes me nod my head. I'd been thinking that for a while now. "My wife doesn't know, my wife" Dad's eyes tear up again and Shane throws an arm around him as the tears begin to fall. I just wrap my arms tighter around myself and bite on my lips again. My mom, my poor mom. Her son and her husband; both shot. I can only hope that Carl pulls through strongly just like my dad did.

* * *

I stay sitting by the door of the room while dad and Shane go sit on the couch downstairs. They try to make me come, but I refused. Harshly. I won't leave him, not now. My legs are pulled up to my chest and my heads resting on them as I wait. For what I'm not even totally sure.

"Hey, you look like you could use this" my head reacts to the new voice and I look up to see the dark haired boy who looked around my age standing before me, a cup of water in his hands. I just nod and whisper a thank you as I reach for the cup.

"Don't worry about it, it's the least I can do" He replies and I only mean to take a sip of the water, but once the ice cold liquid touches my tongue I down it in one chug. He smiles ruefully.

"Thirsty? I'm Jared by the way" He introduces himself and hand the cup back to him and give him a gruff "Kate". I appreciated the water…but I didn't really want to talk to him. It's silent for a few moments before he seems to catch my drift and he starts to walk away and I rest my head back on my knees.

"My dad'll fix him up, good as new" the boy says to me and before I can reply Maggie comes out of the room and gives me a grave look. Oh god no.

"He's alright, I just need to go get your dad. Go in there, kay" I snap to my feet and rush into the room to see Carl letting out gurgling noises on the bed.

"Baby" I whisper as I walk closer to him, wanting to hold him and take the pain away. Dad and Shane come in and my dad grabs my forearm.

"He needs blood" Maggie tells us.

"You, hold him down" Hershel barks at Shane who does as he's told like the good little officer he is.

"Dad" Carl sobs in pain and my dad tries to go to him but Patricia grabs his arm and preps it for the needle. Hershel's pulling one of the pieces out and my little brother's wailing is filling to the room. I know no matter how long I might get to live, I will _never_ forget the scene unfolding around me.

"Stop! You're killing him!" My dad rips away from Patricia and tries to hurry forward.

"Rick do you want him to live?" Hershel still digging the metal out of Carl's body and I answer for my dad.

"Yes, here, I'm the same blood type. Please" I offer my own arm to the nurse and she gives me a look. Dad always carries the weight on his shoulders. If he couldn't carry it this time then I damn well would. She runs an alcohol wipe over the crook of my arm before she inserts the needle. It doesn't hurt, and I usually hate needles. Carl needs this, and I will gladly give every last drop. Dad and Shane both look at me; dad's eyes apologetic and Shane's accepting. Hershel continues on with his medical torture until the shard's out and Carl goes limp.

"What's happening? Is he okay?" I ask Patricia, my voice ten octaves higher. My dad and Shane freak out the same until Hershel tells us that he had just passed out. He holds up the sharp tweezer looking tool he had used to dig in my brother with.

"One down, five to go"

* * *

When I've given the blood, they sit me down on a wooden chair and bandage my needle poke. My dad sits next to me, giving his share. I didn't blame him, nor was I mad at him about freezing a few minutes ago, but I know he was kicking himself.

"Pressure's stable" Hershel tells us as he and Patricia continue to work on Carl.

"Lori needs to be here. She doesn't even know what's going on. I gotta' go find her, bring her back" Dad tells us all his plan and I shake my head which I immediately regret. Taking even that blood had made me dizzy and light headed. We were under weight, dehydrated, god I don't think we could make it down the stairs much less back to the highway. I look to Shane who's standing by the window and he gives me a look that says 'I've got this'.

"You can't do that-" Hershel begins to argue but dad cuts him off.

"She's his mother. She needs to know what's happened; her sons lying her shot" Dad explains.

"And he'll need more blood. And your daughter can't give up much more; she's too small" Hershel says and dad looks at me and I force a smile and grab his hand. He can't leave us. Mom needs to know, but he can't leave us. "He can't go more than fifty feet from this bed" Hershel adds, laying down ground rules and looking at Shane to make sure they were reestablished. Shane folded his hands together and nodded. Dad began to get up but wobbled and both me and Patricia's hands shot out to steady him.

"Hey, hey come on" Shane was by us in an instant holding him up.

"I'm alright, I'm alright" Dad said before he left the room. I look up at Shane desperately and he just scruffs my hair.

"I've got him. You; stay" The familiar curly haired man says before he leaves after dad and I just look at my brother and move to sit on that chair that dad had just left. It's closer to him Patricia helps so I don't fall over, bless her soul. I grabbed his small hand and I feel the tears streak down my face as I hunch over and begin sobbing. I don't care if these random new people are seeing me cry, I can't hold it in anymore. My baby brother is lying, dying less than a foot away from me and I really don't know how I've coped this long. I feel Patricia stroke my hair and Hershel leaves the room.

"I'm gonna' go check on your daddy" She says and I nod. I'll stay with him. I'll watch him. Like I should have been watching him back in the forest. If Carl died…it was my fault.

**Jared and Katie met say what? I hope this was a good make-up for that period without any updates. I'm in the middle of writting the next chapter so it'll be up soon. Oh, and if you all needed a face claim for Jared, I picture him as Drew Roy. Ooh, what pretty dark haired, sharp featured babies Crystal and Drew would make:)**


	4. Between Two Points: Memory 1

_The shortest distance  
Between two points  
Is the line  
From me to you_

Yes, this is one of the many "memory" Chapters I will add into this story. It's not a filler per say, you will need to read these in order to fully understand the story so don't just skip over these please:)

I watch as Amy runs to Andrea, they're arms wrap tightly around each other and I feel a grin stretch over my features. She's okay, I really didn't think Amy could go on without her. My blond friend had been completely distraught when Shane had pretty much told her, her older sister and the rest of the scavenging group was gone.

"Daddy! Papa!" Eliza and Louis run to their father and he holds them both close and kisses Miranda reassuringly. He looks rough, actually the whole group that had gone out looks pretty exhausted. I wondered briefly what they had gone through in the city. Wondered about the hordes of walkers they had encountered. Shane's beaming, I know he tends to expect the worst in this new world, but I can tell he's as relieved as the rest of us that our camp was once again complete. Well as complete as it could get. Everyone's giving each other hugs and it's almost like a family reunion. I hug Jackie and tell her I'm happy she's okay. The black woman had really grown on me. She was a really nice lady. I look over at my little brother and bite my lips together at the expression on his face.

Carl's eyes shine with unbridled envy as he watches his friends hug their father. I know he misses our dad, I know how hard it was. A knot had formed in my stomach too, but being the eldest, I'd swallowed it and kept composed. Mom didn't need to have to worry about reassuring us both. She kneeled down to my brother's eye level and began consoling the 9 year old. I don't pay attention really to the rest of what the others are saying until I hear Morales mention that "a new guy" had gotten them safely out of the city. I perk up, ready to see this bad ass who had gone against the city of the dead and helped them out.

When my eyes fall upon the "new guy" all of my muscles tense and freeze up and my stomach lurches with all its might. Eyes, the same color as me and Carl's, connect with my own and my father leans over, seemingly not able to stand any longer. My father, my dead father. The one who had died back at the hospital back home. But he's not dead. His skin is flushed with a healthy blush, un-bitten and alive. He's alive. He's not a walker. He's not one of them. My thoughts become blurry as everything goes in slow motion then. Carl running for him, my mom trying to stop him. I just stand there, seemingly unable to move. He picks Carl up and comes to me, grabbing me in his arms as well. Everything about him is familiar. His smell, his strong arms, the rough scrape of his facial hair. He's home. He is my home. I feel mom join in on the hug, and I feel the fullness I haven't felt in months .My family, my whole family was here and alive. I get a look over my dad's shoulder and see Shane's eyes filled with two conflicting emotions. Pure, unaltered joy and deep unfathomable regret. The thought of him and my mother crosses my mind and I hold my father tighter, mentally promising to be the glue. I won't let this pull us apart.


End file.
